February 2011

What European Challenge Cup Means to State Tournaments

Pikkdogs February 28, 2011 6 Comments

A big hello to everyone in Omar-nation. This is Pikkdogs here with a report on the upcoming state championships.

So I had my preview of states all done and written, and I was ready to make some final tweaks to my deck, and then………………………….. The Europeans screwed it up.

Darn Euros! They had one tournament and with that turned the Metagame on its side.

In case you haven’t watched PokemonDan’s video on the ECC, the talk of the Benelux region was Italy’s Andrea C. and his Lostgar Lock deck. Its basically just a trainerlock deck but that exchanges 2 Gengar SF for 2 Gengar Primes. Even though he was very lucky in the tournament, he was at a place where he should have won the entire tournament, but misplayed at then end. So he basically should have won the tournament, and turned quite a few heads while he did it. You can bet this deck will migrate to the U.S. and become the biggest Italian import since the Pizza pie.

So what does this mean for State Championships?

Well I’m glad you asked that, because it is the topic of this article. We will examine this effect by analyzing what decks have gotten better because of this news, and what decks have gotten worse.

The Winners

Lostgar Lock– Of course one of the biggest winners of this news is the deck that is sweeping the metagame. This deck will be played a lot, now that Andrea proved that it can win. Andrea did not give us a list that can be easily copied, but everyone basically knows how to build a deck like this. He ran 2 Gengar Primes, 1 Gengar Sf, and 1 Gengar Prime; that seems to be the best play. A 2-2-2 Vileplume line is standard, as well is at least 3 Spiritomb Ar. You will also see some new cards like Mr. Mime Cl and Spiritomb Tm. The reason this deck is so good is because of the Rescue Energy + Broken Time Space Combo. An SP deck will mostly likely have to take 2 hits to knock out either a Vileplume or Gengar. When they do knock it out, it just goes back to the player’s hand, and they can lay it all back down thanks to Broken Time Space. This is an unstoppable combo.

On the downside, a Lostgar Lock player will have to make sure to build the deck so it does not have Split Personality Disorder. Lostgar Lock is a mix of two decks Lostgar and Vilegar. You don’t wanna take 3 prizes and put 3 Pokemon in the Lost Zone, that does you no good. Consistency is big on this deck.

Luxchomp– Luxchomp is a deck that can beat any deck consistently, it just needs to know what deck it will play so that it can tech against it. What Andrea did in Benelux was that he just tipped his hand and the hand of all Lostgarlock players. Now Luxchomp knows what the Lost World threat is, and can tech against it. So what can you put in your SP deck?

To me, there are 4 good techs that you can play to stop Lostgarlock. I assume that you are starting your deck with a basic Luxchomp list with a 1-1 Blaziken Fb line.

One tech is Dialga G. If you get an early lead against Lostgarlock, just rid your hand of trainers and use “Deafen” so that your opponent cannot play Lost World down. It is a simple tech that is useful against a lot of decks, the ability to also shut down Poke-Bodies is amazing. But, if you can’t rid your hand of trainers, Gengar SF is gonna run over you.

Another tech is Weavile G. Weavile G is a Dark Pokemon that has the “Team Attack” attack. For DCC you can do 10 damage plus 10 more damage for everyone Pokemon SP you have in play. That means if you have 4 Pokemon SP on your bench, you will be doing 120 damage to Gengar Prime (thanks to weakness), which leaves you just 1 “Flash Bite” away froma OHKO. Its “Call For Family” attack also is nice because it has a Call Energy like effect, so it is a good starter. If you need to get rid of Gengar Prime fast, Weaville G is probably the easiest way to do it, though Absol G Lv.X can also hit for 120.

Weavile G saw some play at the ECC, another card that did as well was Roserade Gl. Roserade is a card that can be used in conjuction with Luxray Gl Lv. X’s “Bright Look” or Blaziken FB’s “Luring Flame” attack. You would use these attacks to bring either Spritiomb or Vileplume to the active spot. Once they are there, you can use Roserade Gl’s “Poison Bind” attack to do 10 damage, plus a poison, and prevent a retreat next turn. The only way that your opponent would be able to free a Pokemon would be to use Warp Energy. Even if this does not get you a knock-out, it will help you. If the Lostgar player is going for the win with Lost World, you just need to get the prize lead, and then stall till time is called. So Roserade Gl can help you lengthen the game, which is good for you and bad for them.

The fourth and final tech against Lostgar Lock is Staraptor Fb Lv. X. In my opinion the best thing about Lostgar Lock is not Gengar Prime, nor is it Vilegar, nor is it Gengar Sf, but it is the Rescue Energy+ BTS combo. This combo is amazing and makes Lostgar Lock such a great deck. If you knock out a Gengar or Vileplume they just put it back down again and say, “can you do that 5 more times?” Well SP decks cannot do that 5 more times, so lets stop this combo. You can go at this 2 ways. You can get either get rid of the Rescue Energy, with Lost Remover. Or, you can get rid of the Broke Time Space. Because of trainerlock, the best way to do this is to get rid of the stadium card.

The easiest way to get rid of the stadium is with Staraptor FB Lv. X. Staraptor has the “Defog” attack that does 70 damage and discards a stadium for CCC. Unfortunately this attack only does 50 to Gengar Prime, thanks to resistance but the main part of this attack is the discarding of the stadium. Without BTS they will need 3 turns to get their Vileplume or Gengar back, which will buy you enough time do get more prizes. Also, Staraptor’s “Fast Call” Poke-Power will let you get any Stadium from your deck. This lets you setup a Cyrus Chain very quickly, or be able to get a PONT to refresh your hand.

Gyarados– This seems like a weird place to put Gyarados. How will this be good for Gyarados? It is a trainerlock deck, in which the opponent has a chance at Lost Zoning a Magikarp. This doesn’t sound good for Gyarados.

But if you build a decent Gyarados build, you can make a list that has at least a 50% chance of beating any Trainerlock deck. Where Gyarados really improves is the fact that SP is not thinking about it any more. We might see some decks losing their Lucario Gl, or at the very least losing consistency. And, if SP decks are not as consistent as possible Gyarados will be able to swoop in and beat SP decks. With the changing of SP lists, Gyarados now has the chance of winning a lot more tournaments.

The Losers

Vilegar– Vilegar was already losing to SP decks, now SP decks are really teching against them, this can’t be good. The number of traditional Vilegar players will drop because of the fact that Lostgar Lock is very similar. So, I would be surprised if traditional Vilegar does anything at S/T/P Championships.

Uxie Donk– If you build Uxie Donk really well you can easily beat any deck except any kind of Trainerlock or a deck with sustained Powerlock. The ECC did nothing if it didn’t reaffirm that trainerlock will be around for a long time. Unfortunately, Uxie Donk Players will be running into a lot of trainer lock decks.

Rogue Decks– A lot of rogue decks rely on trainers. And Lostgar Lock stops trainers, so Lostgar Lock will stop a lot of rogue decks. Its that simple. Although, there are some rogue decks that don’t rely on a lot of trainers these decks are mostly unaffected. Unfortunately, it seems like the rise of Lostgar Lock means a lot less original decks.

So thats what I think the ECC means for the Metagame. I may be over-reacting to the news a little, but I think Andrea’s good showing is a harbinger for things to come.

PokeClass

PokemanDan’s PokeClass Episode 21 – The European Challenge!

PokemanDan February 26, 2011 2 Comments

The European Challenge Cup was this week and it has shown us some great things for the game. It seems to me that the meta is starting to show some light past SP, with many rogue decks and crazy ideas actually doing well in high grade tournaments. This episode will go over the best parts of the ECC which took place last weekend. There are some good things coming from Europe at the moment and wait til you see what Gengar Prime did!

Thanks for watching! Read More

Card Discussion Uncategorized

You Can’t Touch This: Walls in the Pokemon TCG

Pikkdogs February 25, 2011 5 Comments

Hey everyone in Omar-Nation. This is Pikkdogs here with a strategy article. This article is all about Pokemon that act like walls in the Pokemon TCG. Wall Pokemon are Pokemon that are defensive in nature and either prevent your opponent from attacking you or getting a knockout on one of your Pokemon. Walls are on of my favorite aspects of a TCG. I think its great when you can give your opponent a situation in which they can’t hurt you. It feels deliciously evil.

Before we get started we have some news to deal with first. Ed and I are happy to announce that we have a new member to the teamomar.com family. Renae from the “Renae Collects” Youtube show will soon be joining our team. I think its great that we are getting some more views from collectors, rather then only competitive players. So expect some collection videos from her in the future. If you can’t wait for the first video or article, check out her archive of videos on youtube at this link:

http://www.youtube.com/user/RenaeCollects

Okay, so anyway back to the article. Just a refresher, we are talking about walls.

You might ask ,”Pikkdogs, Why might one want to run a wall Pokemon? And why aren’t you wearing any pants?”

Well the answer to the first question is that you might need to put up a wall to buy your deck some time to setup, or you might want to try to attack your opponent and then switch your opponent right after you attack (as you can with some Pokemon like Gengar Ar, Magnezone Sf, and Uxie La). Having an effective wall will frustrate your opponent and hopefully buy you enough time to get you a good prize lead.

Here are a couple of the most used Walls in the current format, listed in no particular order.

Shedinja Sv

The Basics– Shedinja is possibly my favorite wall. It is a stage 1 Pokemon with 60 HP,a +20 Fire weakness, and a 1 retreat cost. Those stats are less than stellar, but this card is here for its Poke-Body, called “Marvel Shell.” This body states that Shedinja cannot be effected by any effects of an attack if it has a Poke-Body or Poke-Power. It also has an attack called “Spike Wound” that does 30 damage for 1 energy to any of your opponent’s Pokemon, if it already has at least one damage counter on it. This attack isn’t great, but combined with Crobat G it can be an okay attack if you need to attack with it.

When to use it– Shedinja does have its use in the current metagame. Although it has below average stats and attacks and has to be evolved, it still works well for what it is. It also can be played around by using Crobat G “Flash Bite” drops, is unaffected by some Pokemon like Gyarados, and by sniping around Shedinja. It is mostly used in a Shuppet/Dunsparce decks as a wall. But, it can be used in other hit and run decks like Gengar Ar, Quagsire Gl, and Magnezone Sf.

Unfortunately these decks aren’t very successful right now, but as long as you don’t expect to win states you can take a deck like this to States and do fairly well.

Umbreon Cl and Ud

The Basics– Umbreon is a Stage 1 Pokemon with 90 HP, a 1 retreat cost, a fighting weakness, and a -20 resistance to Psychic. It has two attacks for DC “Quick Blow” (do the TPCI people stay up and night trying to come up with names that have sexual connotations?) will do 30 damage and a chance to hit for 60 if you flip heads on one coin flip. Its other attack “Moonlight Fang” will do 30 damage for D and not allow you to be effected by any effects of an attack next turn by Pokemon with Poke-Bodies or Poke-Powers. So its basically like an attack that does the same thing as Shedinja’s Pokebody but with 30 damage.

When to Use– A lot of people love the Eevelutions, so they love to play Umbreon. Me, I’m not so sold on this card, because it can also be played around. Also it only does 30 damage, which is not substantial. Yes, more damage can be added with Special Darkness Energy and an Expert Belt, but those things can be harder to setup.

It is mostly used in Machamp Decks. Why do they use it in Machamp decks? Well the play really doesn’t make much sense, but it does cover Machamp’s Weakness. It also can be used in certain decks as a tech to give it an advantage against a certain deck. For example, if you are running a Gyarados deck and are getting run over by Luxray Gl you can try to add in Umbreon to make sure he or Luxray Gl does not bother your active Pokemon. I don’t think this is a great option, but it’s a card to keep in mind if you ever need a Dark Pokemon that can stall.

Scizor Prime

The Basics– Scizor Prime is a Stage 1 Metal Pokemon with 100 HP, a x2 weakness to Fire, a-20 resistance to Psychic, and a 2 retreat cost. These stats aren’t great, the HP is only average and the weakness is tough to go against. Its attack is called “Metal Scissors” and does 30 damage for MC plus 20 more damage for each Metal energy attached to Scizor. This attack isn’t great, but if you can make Scizor Prime a tank with a lot of Special Metal energies you can create quite an effective tank. Its Poke-Body is called “Red Armor” and prevents damage done to Scizor by any Pokemon with Special Energies. This means that if your opponent is using Special Energies, they cannot attack Scizor. And, every time they choose not to attack Scizor you can attach another energy that makes Scizor hit harder.

When to Use– Scizor can be an effective wall. It is the only wall in the game that can actually hit for a decent amount. If you are able to get 4 Special Metal energies on him you will be doing the magic number of 110 damage, and will be making it hard to hit Scizor. Scizor can be used in his own deck, or as a tech in other decks that run Metal energies.

The problem with Scizor is that he can be easily played around. Although he will stop some decks did in the water, like Steelix Prime, most decks have other options then relying on special energies. If you play a LuxChomp deck, they will either snipe around you or drag up other Pokemon, you will not have enough time to attach a lot of energies to Scizor. Scizor can also be burned and poisoned by an effect of an attack, so your opponent could slowly wear down Scizor if they wanted to. Although it isn’t the best deck around, Scizor Prime can be an effective tech, and may be a good card in the future.

Mamoswine Gl

The Basics– Mamoswine Gl is a basic water type Pokemon with 100 HP, a Metal Weakness, and a resistance to Lightning. It also has an attack that you will never want to pay for and a retreat cost that you will never pay, but that does not matter. Mamoswine does have a good solid HP for a basic and a good weakness and resistance. It will help you in the SP matchup and since there are not many Metal attackers around, the weakness will only hurt you against Dialga G, Steelix Prime, and Scizor Prime. It has a Poke-Body called “Icy Aura” that puts 1 damage counter on each Pokemon during turns that is not a Water type. This is a good body because it provides a Poison like effect every turn that he is active.

When to Use- So why is this Pokemon a wall? It does not block certain effects of an attack or damage. But, it does have a high HP and can be used with PokeTurn. So If you are using a Shuppet/Dunsparce or Mamoswine Gl deck, you can attack and then promote Mamoswine Gl. Hopefully Mamoswine will be able to survive any attack that your opponent throws at you, and you can PokeTurn it next turn and heal all damage. And, because of “Icy Aura” you will be able to add in a damage counter between turns.

The problem with this wall is the problem that is wrong with the other walls, it can be easily played around. If you can do 110+ damage you can just run over Mamoswine, or you can snipe around it. This wall also requires a free Poke-turn which is not easy to come by in Shuppet/Dunsparce decks. So its not a great card, but it is a decent wall so keep it in mind.

So when it all comes down to it, walls aren’t all that effective in the current format. Because of how versatile SP cards are, it can be hard to slow down your opponent. But, I like the idea of walls, and think that after the next rotation comes into effect they could be better. So keep an eye on these walls they might be effective in the next format.

So long and thanks for all the fish!

Deck Discussion Uncategorized

The Many Faces of Gengar Prime

Pikkdogs February 23, 2011 1 Comment

Are you guys getting tired of hearing about Gengar Prime? Well I am getting tired or writing about it. But I haven’t shared any kind of lists or anything like that, so I thought I would write this one last article.

I hate to repeat myself, but I probably should explain Lostgar a little. It is a deck that uses Gengar Prime and Lost World to win the game by getting 6 of your opponent’s Pokemon in the Lost Zone. This is mostly done by using Gengar Prime’s “Hurl Into Darkness” attack, which lets you put as many Pokemon that your opponent has in his/her hand to his/her Lost Zone up to the amount of energy on Gengar Prime.

Gengar Prime is a card that can be played in many ways. One way is to play it as a speed deck, another is to play an Anti-Trainerlock Straight Gengar version, a third way to play it is with Cursegar, and a fourth way is to play it with Trainerlock. Each version of this deck has its own strengths and weaknesses.

Speedlostgar is the fastest version and has the best chance at being a dominant deck. It works to get a T1 Gengar Prime. There is no getting around the fact that this build is fast and consistent, but unfortunately it is auto-loss to Trainerlock. If you want to play Lostgar and still beat Trainerlock, one way is to play a build I call Straightlostgar.

This version runs a lot of supporters instead of trainers and tries to win a slower game but without sacrificing consistency. This version could still get a T1 Gengar Prime, and depending on the list could be using Mew Prime to “Hurl Into Darkness” by Turn 2. Mew Prime is an easy way to use “Hurl Into Darkness” without having to get out the slow Stage 2 Pokemon. This build can also run a 1-1 Palkia G Lv. X tech. This tech can put more Pokemon into the Lost Zone thanks to the “Lost Cyclone” Poke-body. Another way to play this deck is to use last years Cursegar deck as a blueprint.

This build uses the Gengar from Arceus that has the “Curse” Poke-Power. It’s “Shadow Skip” attack does 60 damage for PPC, and you can switch Gengar with one of your benched Pokemon. This build relies getting a The last way to play this deck is to merge Lostgar with Trainerlock (the Vilegar version). If you are able to get a knockout with “Shadow Skip” you can switch Gengar with Gengar Prime and thanks to his “Catastrophe” Poke-Body the Pokemon you just knocked out will go straight to the Lost Zone. You can do this as well as “Hurl Into Darkness” to get the six Pokemon in the Lost Zone that you need.

In Trainerlock you are already running a Gengar line, so it wouldn’t be too difficult to add in a Gengar Prime and a Lost World. This version relies on locking trainers to disrupt the opponent and either attack with Gengar Prime or Gengar SF to defeat the particular deck you are facing. You can either win on prizes or win by using Lost World. This build is nice because you will be able to disrupt your opponent significantly.

I mentioned talking about lists. I haven’t tested a lot of these lists, but I will give you a skeleton Lostgar list and then give you a list of other cards to fill in the deck for each type of Lostgar build.

Skeleton Build

Pokemon-15

4-Gastly Sf- Nice because of the “Pitch Dark Attack” that can stop speed decks by locking trainers for one turn
3-Haunter TM- free retreat is nice, but you can use other Haunters if you like.
2- Gengar Prime
2-Uxie
1-Spiritomb Tm- This card has a “Spooky Whirlpool” Poke-Power that will make your opponent shuffle his/her hand in to his/her deck and draw 6 cards. It’s like a Poke-Power version of Imposter Professor Oak, but with 6 cards instead of 7. This is used because if your opponent is trying to keep the Pokemon in their deck they will most likely draw 1 out of 6.
1-Mr. Mime Cl- For it’s “Expose” Poke-Power. If your opponent doesn’t have a Pokemon in hand you can attack with “Cursed Droplets instead.

T/S/S-19

1-Palmers Contribution
4-Pokemon Collector
2-Bebe’s Search
3-Twins (you get to grab any 2 cards you want with this card, and since you most likely won’t be taking many prizes you can use this card a lot)
4-Seeker (a surefire way for you to hit a Pokemon with “Hurl Into Darkness.)
3- Professor Oak’s New Theory.
2-Lost World

Energy-7

7- Psychic

Additional Cards

Well that’s 41 cards. So you still got 19 left to work with. Here is how each build might use those 19 Spots. The numbers listed below are in addition to the ones in the list.

SpeedLostGar

2-Gengar Prime
2- Broken Time Space
3-Pokedex Handy 910’s
4-Pokedrawer +
2-Rare Candies
1-Pokemon Communication
1-Luxury Ball

StraightLostgar

2-Gengar Prime
1 Palkia G
1 Palkia G Lv.X
4- Mew Prime
1-Luxury Ball
2-Pokemon Communication
2-Warp Energy
3-Psychic Energies
1- Lost World
2-Rare Candies

CurseLostgar

2- Curse Gengar Ar
1-Twins
2-Pokemon Communication
3-Rare Candies
3-Broken Time Space
4- Psychic Energies
3- Spiritomb Ar
1-Luxury Ball

Trainerlock LostGar

3-Spiritomb Ar
1- Gengar Sf
1-Gengar Prime
2- Unown Q
1- Uxie Lv.X
2-2-2-Vileplume Ud
2- Bebe’s Search
3-Psychic Energies

So there are some basic lists that you can start testing. A lot of these lists I haven’t tested yet, so don’t just copy this list and head off to States, its just a jumping off point. Also, depending on the list you choose you will have to adjust the skeleton build a little. For example, you will proabably want to adjust the skeleton list to fit in 3 BTS if you are running the Speed build. Or, perhaps you only want to run 1 Prime in the trainerlock build and you want the Level X instead. You also might be able to drop a Collector or a Seeker here and there, for a card like V.S. Seeker or other cards that will help your build with consistency.

State Championships

An Introduction to State Championships 2011

Pikkdogs February 20, 2011 11 Comments

States are readily approaching and its time to get ready. You could just pick a deck you like, test it a lot, and then leave for the tournament. But, if you wanna read up on whats been happening in the game in the past couple months and what will happen, just continue reading this article.

In this article we will be looking at how cities ended, what changes have occurred since then, how good the most popular decks will do in states, and then I will throw in some tips for S/P/T Championships at the end.

Cities: A recap–

City Championships 2010-2011 did not have surprising results. One trend for cities was the dominance of LuxChomp. LuxChomp has now been going strong for a year, and has been the best deck in the format for all that time. Luxchomp won around half of the cities in the U.S. It dominates most of the other best decks out there. It is a great fast and disruptive deck that came strong after cities into States. The Cities version of LuxChomp included Lucario Gl for the Gyarados match-up, and we should be seeing a similar list coming into States. Anyone who plans to win a States and is not playing LuxChomp need the ability to beat it.

Another trend for cities was the return of Gyarados. Of course Gyarados first came on the scene at Worlds two years ago, thanks to the help of the French. “Tail Revenge” has invaded the Pokemon TCG scene like no other French attack has ever before (I’ll be here all week, try the veal, and tip your server). But it was absent from Battle Roads this season, but has came back thanks to the help of Junk Arm. Now with Junk Arm, Rescue Energy, and Volkner’s Philosophy Gyarados is ready to run over most decks. It preforms well against a lot of the best decks, but can never seem to consistently beat Luxchomp. Gyarados is ready to be a deck to be reckoned with for States, but I feel it won’t win too many because of LuxChomp. The Cities version of this deck should be very similar to what we will see at States.
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PokeClass

PokemanDan’s PokeClass Episode 20 – The Future in Black and White!

PokemanDan February 19, 2011 No Comments

This episode is all about our new set coming in April along with a jam-packed news section. I have a lot of content on the Black and White set and important information about new rulings for States as well as UK States dates.

Hope you enjoy! Read More

Pokemon Art

The Best of Pokemon Card Art

Pikkdogs February 16, 2011 6 Comments

A big hello to all members of Omar-Nation, this is Pikkdogs here today with a different kind of article. Today we won’t be talking about SP decks, Lost World, or Gengar. Today we will be talking about an overlooked part of the card game, card art.

There have been a surge in the amount of Pokemon TCG information in the past year or so. If you want to read or listen to information about the game, just turn on your PC and you will hear all about the latest tips and tricks to win card games. But, one aspect of the game that has been overlooked by these new websites is collecting. There are a lot of people who only participate in this game to collect em all, so its nice to connect with these people at times. While Pokemon players mostly care about the playability of cards, Pokemon collectors look at card art. So thats why I thought it would be nice to have an article on Pokemon Card Art.

Everyone looks at the art on the cards when we open them, but most of us don’t give the pictures a second look. Art in the Base Set days was fairly simple. There would be a simple depiction of a Pokemon just standing around against a mono-chromatic background. Today card art is more complicated with a lot of different backgrounds and situations. The art today is varied and sophisticated, enough so that I think that it should be looked at more closely.

So that’s why we are here today. I am not an art person, I can’t judge or appraise art, so I will not be ranking any art today. Instead, I will give several cards awards in different categories, Oscar style. The only rules of this contest is that to be considered for an award, a card must have be in the current modified format. So without any further wait lets get to the Art Awards.
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Stupid Deck Idea

Pikkdogs Stupid Deck Idea: Raichu

Pikkdogs February 12, 2011 2 Comments

A big hello to everyone in Omar-Nation. This is Pikkdogs here with a Stupid Deck Idea. A Stupid Deck Idea is a deck idea that may be just for fun decks or may be just 1 card or two away from being a good deck, this deck I think can fit into both categories. Since Pokemon first came out Pokefans have loved Pikachu. But as far as I know, Pikachu, and its evolved form Raichu, have never been great Pokemon for the Trading Card Game. This could be changing.

It started in the Undaunted set when Raichu Prime was first released. Raichu was the first Pokemon Prime that could benefit from a Level X card, not only that but the two seem to work together. Raichu Lv. X has a Pokebody called “Link Lightning” that lets you attack after you use Raichu Lv. X’s attack “Voltage Shoot” (which lets you snipe for 80 damage), but only on the turn that you play Raichu Lv. X on to Raichu. The ability to snipe for 80 and then do 120 damage is pretty amazing. Even though the two cards work together, it was still hard to imagine getting enough energy to use both attacks and satisfy their energy discard requirements.

This problem recently just became a lot smaller with Pachirisu Cl. Pachirisu lets you attach two lightning energy cards to Pachirisu once you first play him to your bench, thanks to his “Self Generation” Poke-Power. This works well with Raichu Prime’s “Voltage Increase” Poke-Power, which lets you move lightning energy cards around as many times as you want. If you play down one Pachirisu and play an energy to Raichu you can have enough energy to use Raichu Prime’s “Mega Thunderbolt” attack in just one turn. But there are problems with the discarding of Energy.
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Pikks Three

Pikkdogs Pikks Three. Azelf La, Bubble Coat, and Lucario Cl.

Pikkdogs February 10, 2011 No Comments

A big hello to everyone in Omar-Nation. This is Pikkdogs here ready to give you another Pikk Three article. Of course, the Pikk three articles contain three reviews; one for a popular card, one for an underused card, and one for a card from a new or unreleased set.

I hope you all got to go to at least 1 Pre-Release event. Even though the Call of Legends Set was not the best, the Pre-Release tournament for this set was amazing. So now that we have that set in the books, we can start getting our deck choices narrowed down for State/Province/Territory Championships.

#1 The Staple-Azelf La

Description-Azelf La has been a widely played card for a while now. It has been used in most decks since they came out. It may not be needed for all decks, but its a must play for all decks that run 1 copy of something, like SP decks do.

Azelf has a meager 70 HP, a +20 Psychic Weakness, and a 1 retreat cost. It has an attack “Lock Up” that does 20 damage for 1 Psychic energy and does not let your opponent retreat next turn. Its Poke-Power is called, “Time Walk”, and lets you look at your prizes, replace a card from your hand with a Pokemon in the prizes, and re-arrange the prize cards.

Analysis-Azelf does not have great stats. The retreat isn’t bad, but everything else isn’t that great. Since it is weak to Psychic, Uxie La can OHKO it with an Expert Bel and 1 “Flash Bite” from Crobat G. But we don’t use this card for its basic stats.

It’s attack isn’t that great. It is sometimes useful, but nobody will ever build a deck around this attack, it just isn’t consistent enough. But we don’t play this card for the attack either.

We play this card for “Time Walk”. This is a power that lets you do what no other card lets you do, look at your prize cards, get a Pokemon, and re-arrange them. If you prized a key Pokemon, just use Azelf to get him out. If you prized 3 of your Cyrus’s Conspiracy just use “Time Walk” and find out where they are, then take it with your next prize. This card has been around for a while, but its never been stronger then it has been in this format.

This is because now you are allowed to write down where your prize cards are. So, if you “Time Walk” you can write down on a notepad where all the cards are, then when it is time you can take the prize you want.

This card is great in almost any deck, but I have discovered a great combo card. If you first play “Time Walk”, you can then play down Rotom Ud and use his Poke-Power to grab the prize card that you need. Rotom lets you switch the top card of your deck with any prize card, and you can do this once per turn. It is not a perfect system, but because of this combo all of your prize cards are now open for use.

There are two major drawbacks to this card. The first is the poor stats, it can be knocked out easily or brought active without an easy way to retreat it. The second is that “Time Walk” can be Power Sprayed, and once that happens you are unable to use it again.

Final Rating– 10/10– An irreplaceable card that lets you run less cards so you can increase consistency.

#2 The Underdog- Bubble Coat

Description– Bubble Coat is a Pokemon Tool Card. When you attach it to your Active Pokemon, it negates the effect of Weakness. Bubble Coat gets discarded once the Pokemon it is attached to is damaged.

Analysis– Bubble Coat is an interesting card that is not played too much. In fact, I have never seen it in a competitive deck, though it does have a lot of uses.

Especially because all new cards now have x2 weakness, Bubble Coat is more needed then ever. Luxchomp is a deck that can hit for weakness on a lot of different Pokemon. If you attach Bubble Coat, it may prevent them from taking a prize for one turn, giving you an advantage in a prize race. It could be used in a lot of decks, like Gyarados, Steelix, and Kingdra. It is also a trainer card, which means you can get it back to your hand with Junk Arm.

One drawback to this card is that it is a tool card. Since you cannot have more then 1 tool card attached, you cannot use Bubble Coat and Expert Belt or Energy Gain.

Final Rating– 6/10-This card is easily played around, but gives you a great advantage. It probably should not be a staple, but it should not be ignored.

#3 The Young Gun Lucario CL

Description– Lucario is a stage 1 Pokemon with 90 HP, a psychic weakness, and 1 retreat cost. Its first attack. “Dimensional Sphere” does 30 damage plus 20 more for every Pokemon you have in the lost zone for just CC. Its second attack, “Sky Uppercut”, does 70 damage for FFC.

Analysis– 90 HP is only decent for a Stage 1. The psychic weakness is terrible against the likes of Gengar and Uxie. This makes Lucario easy to knock out. But lucky Lucario can be decent in the attacking department. For just 1 DCE, you can do the magic number of 110 damage if you have 4 Pokemon in the Lost Zone. It also is a fighting type, which means it can hit Luxray Gl Lv.X for weakness.

The easiest way to get Pokemon in the Lost Zone is to use Palkia G Lv. X. You can combine Palkia G and Lucario with a lot of Pokemon that have good coming into play Poke-Powers like Uxie, Chatot G, Azelf, Mesprit, and Giratina Pt. You can use Palkia G Lv.X’s “Lost Cyclone” Poke-Power to put 2 of these Pokemon in the Lost Zone. This way you can use coming into play Poke-Powers, free up your bench, and fuel Lucario’s attack at the same time. Lucario can also cover Palkia G’s weakness.

The drawback of this Pokemon is that if your Pokemon is playing Lost World, you are making his job very easy. It also can take a couple of turns to setup Lucario and your Lost Zone.

Final Rating– 6.5/10-Lucario is not a great attacker, but he does okay. If this card works it will because someone out there can make a good list with Palkia G and Mesprits. Because of its Fighting Type, Lucario may be just what Palkia G needs to give Palkia Lock the comeback it needs.

Well, thats it for this edition of Pikkdogs Pikks Three. We invite you to put your own reviews in the comment box, to tell us what you think of these cards.

So long and thanks for all the fish.

Stupid Deck Idea

Stupid Deck Idea: Lost Junior (Mime Jr., Lost World)

Ed February 8, 2011 13 Comments

Alright, so maybe this deck idea isn’t utterly stupid. In fact, I think there is a lot going for it. It does, however, still fall under what I laid out for our “Stupid Deck Idea” article guidelines. I built it on paper (actually on the computer). I obsessed over it for a while. Ultimately, I decided that I won’t be building a physical version of the deck anytime real soon, so instead I’m posting it here for all of you to ponder.

I think it’s the type of deck that can just win any matchup. Unfortunately, it’s also the type of deck that can lose any matchup. It’s got a luck component to it that can end up in either player’s favor. So, take a look at the article/decklists. Maybe you want to build the deck and test it out. Optimizing the lists might just make it competitive. At any rate, I think it would be a fun (and annoying to the opponent) league deck. At least comment and let me know what you think about the idea (or decks like this).

The basic idea here is to exploit the new Mime Jr. from Clash of Legends. He has two features that we want to make use of. First, his FREE attack puts the top card of your opponent’s deck into the lost zone and puts Mime Jr. to sleep. Normally, this would just be disruptive to the opponent, but combined with the new Lost World stadium, this can win games. Second, his PokeBody prevents all damage to Mime Jr. if he’s asleep. Obviously, this can save him from being KO’d.
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Stupid Deck Idea: Lost Junior (Mime Jr., Lost World)

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